Little Brother No More
by giacinta
Summary: Dean's life changes in a big way. Chapter Seven.
1. Chapter 1

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Little Brother No More.

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The torrential rain provided tough work for the Impala's elderly windscreen wipers and Dean Winchester cursed the sudden intense storm

that had appeared as if by magic in the previously limpid blue sky.

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He had left Sam back at the Motel intent on filtering out the most recent news bulletins that could be considered

by any stretch of the imagination, supernatural, and he and his Baby had gone to refurnish their depleted stores of batteries,

holy water and other paraphernalia inherent to the hunting trade.

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"A hunter's life depends on his tools," his father had drilled into them since they were children,

along with any other number of pearls of hunting wisdom, but even with the most well thought out plans and best choice of weapons,

Dean knew exactly on which side the Winchester luck would fall;

Murphy's law had nothing on Winchester's law; Murphy had it good in comparison!

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He didn't know if it was the rain that had put him in such a pensive mood but an unbidden thought came into his mind.

What would his life have been like if Sammy had never been born?

It was a thought that he quickly tried to put out of his head but it kept bouncing back and so he pondered it,

hoping that once he had given it due thought it would disappear.

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Without Sam and all the evil that had rained down on him, probably his Mum and Dad would still be alive

and maybe he himself would have had a wife and family of his own.

Hunting would never have been a part of his existence and although Mary had come from a family of hunters, her wish to get out of that life-style,

a desire which had curiously echoed that of his little brother in his younger days, would have brought her and John to live an otherwise normal life.

At least that's what his little trip to the past had shown him.

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If Sammy had never been born there would certainly have been advantages to the remaining Winchesters

but that one human that Dean loved most of all would never have existed;

and the life of his annoying, bitchy, danger-magnet, emo, little brother placed on a scale,

out-weighed any counter-weight that could be placed against him.

In the most shadowed little corner of his heart he knew that not even the combined mass of his mother and father

would ever have been enough to tilt the scales away from Sam.

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There is nothing that could ever do that he thought fondly,

as he manoeuvred the car as near as possible to the overhanging edge of the Motel roof.

He gathered his purchases and made a bee-line for the door, managing nonetheless to get completely soaked in the few seconds it took him to find shelter.

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As he stood there watching the rain batter down on the Impala's roof,

he suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to be at his little brother's side and he pushed the scuffed door open with unmitigated haste,

his heart in his mouth, an unexplainable terror crawling through his bones.

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He burst into the room, not understanding the reason for the raw primal fear that had come over him.

The room looked exactly as it was when he had left it.

Sam's computer was open on the table.

His brother was no longer sitting in front of it but even Geeky Sam had to take a leak sometime.

The fear in his bones calmed a little.

He set the bags down on the table and peeked at the screen. Busty Asian Beauties.

"Sam, you old hound," he thought to himself,"always giving me the bitch-face and when I'm not around you treat yourself."

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He moved to the bathroom door and listened.

He physically felt the need to see his brother but he didn't think Sam would be too pleased at him barging in while he was using the head.

The kid had always been prissy about his privacy, and then he felt ridiculous.

He was taking this feeling he had, way too seriously.

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The seconds ticked by and he knocked on the wood. "Sammy, you in there?" and to his chagrin the door slid open underneath his surprised knuckles.

The fear that had just calmed itself returned ten-fold as he rushed into the bathroom.

No Sam.

He made a one hundred and eighty degree turn and he noticed that there was only one bed situated on the opposite wall of the room.

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The icy fingers that had coiled their way around his heart squeezed even tighter and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that his brother was gone.

He had felt it in the car, when that ridiculous thought had come into his mind about his brother non existing, that something strange was going on.

His instincts were always spot-on where his Sammy was concerned and this time it was no different.

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He stood there utterly lost.

Part of him didn't want to believe what he was seeing but the other part of him had already accepted that however hard he looked,

he wouldn't find Sam.

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	2. Chapter 2

A big thanks to all who favoured, alerted or reviewed this story. :)

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Chapter Two.

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Dean was a man of action and his first instinctive response to Sam's disappearance would have been to take a sledgehammer to the room,

much as he remembered his little brother doing in the uber-false Mystery Spot, with it's stupid tables glued to the ceiling;

but although he knew that he might get momentary relief by physically taking out his agitation on his surroundings,

he highly doubted that it would be of any help whatsoever in bringing his little brother back to him.

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No, if Sammy were here…. He'd put his geek brain to work and think his way logically through things, trying to pin-point exactly if and what,

he could personally have done to provoke such a thing

He cast his mind back to when he was in the Impala…God if he hadn't gone for those stupid supplies he would have been here with Sam.

He had promised him that he would never leave him alone again but he couldn't have imagined that slipping out for an hour or so

would have meant coming back to a Sam-less room.

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"Stop it, Dean," he chided himself. "Recrimination isn't going to get you anywhere!"

He'd been in the Impala when that damn thunderstorm had struck and those unsettling thoughts about Sam had come into his mind.

Sure, he had gone over the way things might have been if Sam had never been born but he had made it perfectly clear

that Sam meant everything to him, and that not even his parents could compensate

for the love and the bond of brotherhood that tied him to Sam.

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So it wasn't as if he had wished him away, something he considered completely impossible, but in their world of prodigies even

the most impossible things had been known to happen.

Maybe he was in some alternate universe like the one in which they had been the actors in their own life story;

perhaps this world's "Dean" was with his Sam trying to cope with the appearance of a brother he had never had.

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No, wait, the Djinn, Yes, damn it, that must be ithe answer!

This was just some dream world they had implemented in his mind, while he was really hanging out to dry in some filthy warehouse;

but if that were the case Sammy would still be here, for his dream world certainly wouldn't be a Sam-less one.

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He moved to the computer.

He had thought it to be Sam's but he now recognised it as his own.

They had bought both in a bargain deal, and outwardly the two lap-tops were identical.

As far as this "Dean" was concerned however, his tastes in porn were nothing if not similar, he thought ruefully.

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He took in the single bed.

That meant that Sam hadn't just disappeared as in kidnapped, but that whoever had been in this room hadn't need an extra bed to begin with,

for there had been no-one with whom to share.

He felt a sea of negative emotions wash over him.

It was all his fault that this had happened.

It must have been something that he personally had done to make his brother disappear, for if it had been a common enemy why not get rid of Dean too?

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A bag in the corner caught his eye and he emptied it impatiently on to the bed.

The usual stuff a guy would have with him fell out, pants, a couple of shirts, socks.

Maybe this "Dean" was on a working trip or something.

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He felt like an amputee; a part of him had been ripped out, but whatever had happened

there had to be a way to put the pieces back together as they had been before, and by God he would find that way!

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He felt his jeans' pocket, his phone was still in there.

He yanked it out.

Sammy was No1 on his speed dial but his heart continued to snowball further and further down the into the depths of despair, for flashing into life

on the little screen was the name Anna, followed by Mom, Dad and a list of other names that were utterly alien to him.

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He let the phone drop from his hand as if it had turned in to some poisonous snake, the hot bitter tears that had welled into his eyes

spilling forth unheeded.

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When he had re-established a thready control over his emotions, he tentatively pushed the speed dial for the unknown woman's name

and he jumped as a female voice answered.

"Dean, honey are you nearly home? I've got your favourite roast in the oven and you know what for dessert!"

Dean hesitated.

"Dean? Dean is that you?" the woman's voice had taken on a touch of anxiety.

He cleared this throat. "Yeah, yeah, it's me."

"Is everything okay? You sound funny, sweetheart " she asked, her voice concerned.

"No, no! I 'm… great, just a bit of a sore throat, is all," he croaked out, wondering at the same time where the Hell home was.

It's not as if he could just ask her outright.

"Have you see Mom and Dad recently?" he probed.

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"He felt the voice pause at the other end of the line."Are you sure nothing's wrong? You sound really out of it."

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Dean tried to keep his voice as calm as possible when all he really wanted to do was yell and ask her if she had seen Sam

but he had to take things slowly, for his little brother's sake.

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"I'm fine. It's...well I had a kind of nightmare about them and I just thought I'd check, that's all."

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"Oh! They're fine honey. I saw your Mom on my way to work this morning.

Just another day at the office in Lawrence, eh!" her voice calmer now that he had given her a half-reasonable explanation for his strangeness.

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Curiously enough, he wasn't far from Lawrence. It would take him a couple of hours from here.

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"It'll take me another couple of hours to get there. I hear the roads are pretty busy."

"That's great. See you then, hon."

"Right." and he closed the connection.

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He typed Dean Winchester, Lawrence, into the lap-top and the address came up on-screen.

It was practically down the road from his childhood home; the house where his little brother had been born.

She wasn't kidding when she said she had seen his Mom, it would be difficult not to bump into each other!

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He collected everything that was in the motel room and took one last look around.

The last sight of his brother had been when he was sitting at the creaky table and he imprinted that image on his retinas, never to be forgotten.

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Two hours later he drew up in front of a normal unassuming suburban home.

He had been in two minds whether to stop by his parents first but something had pushed him towards "Dean's" house.

But he didn't believe that it was the promise of pie!

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He had just closed the door of the Impala when he was attacked by a skinny child that was doing its best to burrow its way into his stomach.

"Dad, what took you so long? Mom said you were due back hours ago"

The child turned his face up towards him and Dean felt that he was about to do the girliest thing in the world and faint,

as he looked down into the huge adoring puppy eyes of his very, very little brother.

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	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter Three

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It took Dean all of his considerable cool and self control not to freak out on the spot, but the child was waiting for an answer.

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"Dad," he repeated, "What's wrong?"

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Dean could hardly remember when his own Sam had looked so small and defenceless,

but his heart felt as if it were being squeezed like a sponge because the kid hanging on to him evoked so many memories

of when they were both children, and it had been him and Sammy against the world.

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He studied the little face that was looking up at him apprehensively, still waiting for a comforting answer;

the big hazel eyes worried that perhaps he had himself done something to upset his Dad.

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"It's nothing S….." he wasn't sure if the kid's name was Sam or not.

"It's just been a long drive and I'm a bit tired, that's all," he reassured him.

The child studied him, still not convinced that all was well, but he accepted the words with a nod.

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He was about to let go of Dean's waist and turn away, but Dean just couldn't resist lifting him into his arms

and pressing the small head into the crook of his neck, where it fitted perfectly, as it always had and still did, even with his own grown-up gigantor Sam.

He breathed in the child's scent.

It was one hundred percent pure Sammy.

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"Sam, your Dad's tired after his long drive. Let him get into the house at least, before you hassle him."

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Dean looked over the child's shoulder at the owner of the voice, and if the name Anna a had meant nothing to him when he had seen it

in the number one spot on his cell phone, the woman who stood in the door-way of the house was very familiar to him.

He had had an "angelic" and ecstatic romp with her in the back seat of the Impala.

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"So, not so mysterious after all, " he thought to himself. "Damn all angels and their friggin' interference in other people's lives, especially mine and Sam's".

Dean's earlier anguish had now morphed into a simmering anger.

He was done with these douche-bag angels shoving him and Sammy around.

Demons he got, but angels were crazy, right up there along with people.

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Sam made a move to obey his mother and put his feet back on the ground, but Dean's arms didn't release him,

only wrapping themselves even more strongly around his slight body.

Sam was his responsibility, big or small it made no difference, and he certainly wasn't letting any angel, especially one who had already killed Sam once,

get her murdering hands on him again.

Sam felt his Dad's arms continuing to detain him and so he put his own two skinny ones back around Dean's neck and held on tight,

more than happy to stay where he was.

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"Sam, …" she repeated, but that was as far as she got before Dean came right up into her personal space, eyes glittering like two hard green emeralds.

"Send us right back now to the way we were, or I'll fry your ass in the biggest pan of Holy Oil I can find."

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"Dean, whaa..!

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"You heard me, bitch! I thought you were dead but it seems that you heavenly trash have a way of turning up time after time.

Didn't killing Sam once satisfy you or couldn't you wait to have another go?"

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Anna's face took on a vexed expression.

"Dean, are you drunk, because if you're not, I can only think you've gone out of your mind! What on earth are you talking about

and anyway don't use that kind of language in front of Sammy!"

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"It's Sam to you, bitch. I'm the only one who gets to call him Sammy! Now get us back to the way we were! I'm not going to warn you again," Dean ordered.

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"Look," Anna's voice took on a more wheedling tone. "Why don't we go inside and talk about this.

There's no need to put on a show for the neighbours; they're nosy enough as it is.

I'll make you a good cup of coffee and I've got your favourite pie in the oven, nice ad warm, just as you like it.

Things will seem so much better afterwards."

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Dean studied the woman.

Was this all an act, or was the Anna of this "whatever it was other reality" really this Dean's wife and Sam's mother.; but even if

the woman was innocent, this whole affair had the smell of angel all over it.

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Sam stirred in his arms.

Dean lightened his grip, he had probably been holding on too tight.

This Sammy was a skinny little thing after all, nothing like his future Sasquatch self.

He turned and smiled at the child, receiving a wide toothy smile in response.

Yeah, he and Sam were still a team, in any reality.

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He nodded to the woman in front of him, in acceptance of her offer.

He would play along until he got to the bottom of this, but he swore that Sammy was never gonna be out of his reach.

He had temporarily misplaced his Sasquatch once, but he wasn't going to make that mistake again.

He walked through the door into the house with Sammy still firmly in his grasp.

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	4. Chapter 4

I've tried to eliminate the mistakes but sometimes they slip through! :(

Some mild swear words, but nothing particular!

I'm going to keep Sammy for the small guy and Sam for the original one to avoid confusion, I hope!

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Thanks to all those who reviewed, favoured and alerted.

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Chapter Four

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The inside of the house was as nondescript as the outside; just your average working –class home, no more no less,

although it was certainly better than the scruffy motel rooms he and Sam had grown up in.

However if it was anything to go by, the Dean of this world wasn't earning a fortune.

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He followed Anna into the modest kitchen, Sammy still in his arms.

He was a light-weight and Dean could have carried him all day without breaking a sweat.

Wouldn't it be great if his own Sam somehow shrunk to this size, when he had to carry his hurt ass out of danger on a hunt!

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He took up a hostile stance beside the kitchen table, waiting for "Anna" to make the first move.

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"Dean, honey, Aren't you going to sit down? Why don't you tell me what's going on? Maybe I can help.

Did your trip go badly? I've never seen you like this before," she finished worriedly.

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Dean studied her as she spoke. He wasn't going to give her any kind of information, not even the most innocuous.

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"Look", she said, keeping her tone reasonable, "why don't you put Sammy down, he still has his homework to finish.

Maybe we can better work out what's wrong if we're alone"

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"No," Dean growled, a wolf protecting its cub. "Sammy stays right here. Let's just cut to the chase, I don't want coffee or pie or anything else from you,

only the truth of what's going on here and you're going to tell me!

You really don't want to see me when I'm angry and I'm sure you'll have heard of my expertise in interrogation techniques!"

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She gazed at him with hostility. "If you let Sammy go, maybe we can talk about this like adults."

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She nodded towards the child whose eyes had grown to the size of saucers by this time, trying to follow the sense of his parents' conversation.

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Dean considered the situation, smiled reassuringly at the boy in his arms, and made to put him down, when the shirt he was wearing

snagged on one of Dean's jacket buttons revealing a blue-black expanse of bruised skin on the child's shoulder.

Dean stared at it in shock, his accusing glance shifting to the woman, searching out the truth in her eyes.

She just shrugged as she leaned back against the work-top.

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Sammy was trying to pull his shirt down but Dean's hand gently covered his.

"What happened Sammy?" he asked softly.

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He felt the slight twitch of the small body but the boy answered calmly, "It's nothing, Dad.

I told you that I fell off my bike the other day when we talked on the phone, but I'm fine now; it doesn't hurt any more."

He smiled at Dean whose already tender heart melted even more.

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"All right, Sammy" He put the boy down carefully, and knelt down on one knee in front of him, their eyes now level.

"You go off and get your homework done and don't worry 'cause I'm never gonna leave you again."

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Sammy's eyes held his, just as his own Sam's did, their silent exchange as valid now as it ever was.

Sam's size might change but their brotherly communion never did, even if in this case it was "fatherly".

The child smiled, trusting that what his Dad said was true; he would never leave him, and he went off to his room his step light.

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As soon as he was out of sight, Dean moved in on the woman, pinning her against the wall,

her upper arms gripped painfully between his strong hands; not that he cared a whit, she was no woman anyway!

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Maybe Sammy HAD fallen from his bike, but by God if it turned out to be anything else he would tear her limb from limb,

something he was debating on doing anyway, if she didn't come up with the truth!

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Now that Sammy was gone, her voice changed completely and her eyes flashed orange, "Dean Winchester, ever the arrogant bastard!"

He scrutinised her face carefully, a sardonic smile on his face.

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"So we're starting to tell the truth are we? Just which douche-bag do I have the pleasure of talking to today?

If you introduce yourself, I can be all polite and call you by your name instead of bitch!

I don't know why you picked me out for your little experiment but I must be real important if you created this whole world

just for little old me," he smirked sarcastically.

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"You brought it on yourself you arrogant prick.

You provoked me Winchester and I decided you needed to be taught a lesson. Just what was it you said in the car?

["The life of your brother placed on a scale outweighed any counter-weight that could be placed against him."]

That's a bold statement!

Well Winchester, you challenged me and now I challenge you. What better counter-weight could be placed against your brother, than Sam himself?

This Sam is as real as yours, as is this world.

He is the self-same Sam and yet he is not.

He has no big brother to look out for him and no mother, for she died when he was six months old. This," she indicated her body

"is your second wife and Sammy's step-mother and to be honest, I don't think she likes him very much,

although I don't think she would do anything to hurt him; well not much anyway for she knows how Daddy Dean dotes on him

but his job as a travelling salesman takes him away a lot and," she smiled complacently, "you know how children can be so clumsy."

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"You perverted bitch," Dean's face came forward until it was nearly touching hers "I'll make you pay for what you're doing to me and Sam"

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She only smiled smugly.

"By the way, if I hadn't brought you to this reality, little Sammy would be crying his heart out in his room instead of doing his homework,

because his daddy Dean would be dead by now.

He should have died on the way here, killed in a crash with a ten-ton lorry, if I'm not mistaken!

You're beginning to bore me now Dean, so go enjoy your little holiday in this world. I'll talk to you again, or maybe not!"

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"Don't you dare go off…...!"

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But the being had exited the body in front of him, and the Anna persona yelled in pain as Dean's fingers clawed into her flesh.

"Let me go Dean, you're hurting me."

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	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favoured or alerted. I hope you enjoy. :) Sammy= little Sam; ; Sam= big Sam

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Chapter Five.

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Dean lightened his hold on the woman, realising that the entity he had been talking to was gone.

He would gladly have taken out his spleen on her just the same, but he could hear Sam's voice in his head bitching him about her being human

and "We don't kill humans, Dean!"

"Yeah, yeah," Dean mouthed to himself; even when his Sasquatch of a brother wasn't physically present his virtual nagging

would still invade his brain, although in his opinion there were plenty who could have had their earthly time cut short

to go increase Hell's population before their time!

He gave Anna one last shake, just for the heck of it, before removing his hands.

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That was an account for anything she might have done to Sammy

although he knew better than to believe a word that came out of the mouths of supernatural douche-bags!

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Anna rubbed her arm where Dean had held her and glared at him as if he had gone mad.

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"What's the last thing you remember?" he asked curtly, uncaring of what she might think of him

Her features took on a look of confusion.

"I don't know. I heard the car draw up in the drive-way and..." she hesitated bewildered, "….then just now, you digging your fingers into my arms.

What's gotten into you, Dean? You've never acted like this before."

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Dean couldn't find a crumb of sympathy in his heart for her, although she was probably as much a victim as he and Sam were.

Whatever this Dean had been like, he was betting that he was a lot less dangerous than the Dean Winchester that was standing in her kitchen now!

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A smell of burning wafted through the room causing Anna to momentarily forget everything in her haste to rescue what was left of dinner.

Although Dean would usually have been upset by the burning of a perfectly good pie, he took the occasion to exit the kitchen unnoticed.

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Across the hall, he quickly picked out the door to Sammy's room, a low murmur of someone reading aloud spilling forth.

He tapped lightly on the half-closed door before calling Sammy's name and entering.

The kid was stretched out face down on the bed, a book open in front of him.

Some things never change in any reality, Dean reflected fondly.

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His heart melted as Sammy turned and gave him a dimpled smile and he thought back on how his own Sam had been at that age.

He had been a child himself then, an eleven year old single parent with more responsibility on his shoulders than any young boy should have,

but here he was getting a chance to see his little brother through an adult's eyes, and although one could argue that

it wasn't quite the same Sammy as his own, Dean felt that the essence of the child was identical.

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He wondered what Sam was doing right now. Looking for him, no doubt.

He sighed.  
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He was going to set things straight, but there was no reason why in the meanwhile he couldn't enjoy spending time

with his very little son/brother; but not here.

The Impala was the safest place for them, along with any anonymous motel they could find.

He had this Dean's computer in the car so he was fine to do research on the fugly that had put him in this situation.

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He sat down on the foot of the bed and tickled the sock-covered feet next to him.

"Dad, stop it. You know I hate it," Sammy complained as he pulled them away.

Yeah, Dean knew. His own Sam had suffered from tickly feet too, but that of course was before they grew into two dinner plates!

He leaned forward and tousled his hair." How would you like to pay a little visit to your grand parents?"

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The child's expression changed. "Now; but Dad, mom's been waiting for you to eat dinner. She won't be happy if we take off like that." he replied.

"Don't worry; I'll take care of your mom. You get ready and come out to the car."

"But Dad, they don't like me very much. I'd rather stay here" he murmured in a small voice as he turned away, his face back into his book.

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They didn't like him very much! What the Hell, he thought. How could they not like Sammy?

He stood and picked the boy up.

"Now, why would you think that Sammy? Did you break grandma's best china or something?" he teased.

He sighed "No, Dad," he shrugged. "I never did anything wrong. They just don't like me," and he buried his face in Dean's neck.

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What the hell!

His arms closed automatically around the child and his mind went back to what the being had told him; that this reality's Dean

would have died on his way back if he hadn't taken his place.

A cold shiver went through him.

Little Sammy would have been left alone, if it was true that John and Mary didn't like him, for he had also been told that Anna was his step-mother

and she wasn't too fond of him either.

Just what was going on?

Well he would find out himself from his parents.

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"Sammy," he gently pried the kid's head away from his shoulder. "What do you say if we go on a little trip, just you and me?

First we'll go to your grandparents' house and if they don't feed us we'll go for burgers. How does that sound."

"Will you stay with me while we're there?"

Dean pushed his head back down on his shoulder. "You can bet on it Sammy. We'll stick together the whole time."

He was getting inordinately fond of this child and he had to see him secure in a happy place, before reversing whatever spell had been cast over him.

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"Now then, put a clean pair of pants, a shirt and some socks into your duffle and come meet me out at the car," he said as he put the boy down.

"I'll go and tell your mom we're going out, Ok"

Sammy looked at him quizzically but he went to do as Dean had asked.

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In the kitchen Anna was grumbling over the burnt dinner as Dean informed her that he was taking Sammy with him to see his parents.

"You're taking Sammy. Why? You know they don't want him around."

"Then they'll just have to get over it won't they'" he stated as he turned to go.

"You know Dean; it's as if you're a different person. You've turned into an arrogant jerk.

What happened to you when you were away'" she huffed.

"I died and was re-born," he answered as he eyed Sammy making his way to the Impala.

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"Wait, when will you be back?"

"Don't worry honey, you haven't seen the last of me yet," he smiled sweetly as he turned away.

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"Can I come in the front, Dad," Sammy pleaded, eyes full-on, as Dean came towards the Impala.

It's a losing battle he thought to himself. If I still cave in to my Sam's puppies when he's two metres tall, this kid will wind me round his little finger.

I'll have to nip this in the bud right now.

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He looked away as he laid down the law!

"No, way! Kids in the back. Driver makes the rules, Sammy obeys" He turned to watch as a primordial bitchface formed itself on the small features,

and he grinned to himself.

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He eased the Impala out of the driveway and hoped that this was the last time he would set eyes on the place.

He would settle Sammy with this Mary and John and find a way to get back to his own reality.

The skanky bitch that had brought him here had said that she would be back, and when she showed up he would be ready for her.

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This Dean's house was only a couple of blocks from his parent's home.

He stole a glance at the kid in the back seat and he hardened his heart at the thought of the little guy growing up without his dad.

He studied the boy through the rear view mirror.

Two Sammys and only one Dean. It was an irresolvable situation.

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He drew up in front of the familiar house, as perfect as it had been in the Djinn's dream universe.

Even better because his father would be inside. He wondered what his parents were like here.

Well he would soon find out.

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"Come on Sammy," he smiled as he opened the rear door, "let's go see Gramps."

The child looked up at him unconvinced "Why don't you go first, Dad'" he pleaded.

Dean was beginning to feel impatient with him. "What the heck, Sammy. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"But they don't want to see me. They don't like me."

X

Dean took the small hand in his own.

"Come on, dude," he joked as he looked down at him

"How can anyone not like you, you're as cute as a litter of new-born puppies"

Sammy just gave him a watery smile and held on tight.

X

He rang the bell and he felt the boy retreating behind his legs.

X

"Dean," his father's tall frame filled the door-way, and Dean's heart fluttered as he contemplated the familiar face.

There was more white in this John's hair and beard but it was still him.

He had been left with mixed feelings about his own father.

He had given Dean back his life by selling his soul, but at the same time he had placed the burden of killing Sam on his shoulders should he go-dark-side;

but maybe he had already known that Dean would never have killed his brother, but forever tried to save him.

X

"Dean, why did you bring him?" he nodded towards the child standing behind him.

Dean's warm feelings towards John were beginning to cool at his words.

"Him?"

"Sam. You know how Mary gets upset when she sees him!"

X

"She does, and why?"

He felt Sammy squeeze even closer to his legs and he bent down and took the chid in his arms where he hurriedly buried his head in Dean's shoulder.

Dean's arms gripped him tight. He wondered why it felt so right.

X

"Dean," his father sighed "We've been over this a thousand times before. You know why!"

"You're joking, right," Dean was flabbergasted. "You're trying to put one over on me. How can she not want to see her own grandchild?

What can a seven-year old have done to her?"

"Listen, Dean. I don't want Mary upset. Just take your son home and come back on your own and we can talk about all this again,

although we've been over it a hundred times before. She just doesn't want to see Sam"

X

Dean couldn't believe it when John closed the door and left him standing on the door-step, Sammy's little arms tight round his neck

as if he would never let go.

What was he to do now, he asked himself as he felt the dampness of tears on his skin.

He tightened his hold on the boy; for once even the awesome Dean Winchester was completely at a loss.

X

XXXX TBC XXXX


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

X

Sam finally tore his eyes away from the computer screen, he could not longer ignore the burning sensation that they were trying to communicate to his stubborn brain.

The article he had been reading was interesting but challenging, and it had riveted his attention completely.

He awkwardly pushed back the standard motel room chair, the muscles in his back and legs complaining of the long inactivity on the uncomfortable seating accommodation, and he made his way to the bathroom.

While he rinsed out his eyes with the cool water, he realised that his stomach was also complaining. Jeez! Just how long had his head been stuck in that research.

X

He glanced down at his watch, four hours! Four hours that had passed in a flash!

Dean!

Where was his brother?

He had only been going out for supplies and food; surely he should have been back before now. Scratch that, he should have been back hours ago!

Suddenly all of Sam's senses kicked in, including his instinct for his brother's well-being, and he knew without a doubt that Dean hadn't come back because something or someone had prevented him from doing so.

He dived for his phone, predicting beforehand that his brother's husky voice wouldn't be answering him.

Strangely enough, there was absolutely nothing, no ring-tone, no voice mail, no nothing. Dean's phone was completely dead.

X

He pulled on his jacket, checked his gun, flask of holy water and his salt dispenser, and with apprehension coursing through his whole body, he set out on foot towards the township, situated about ten miles away, to where Dean had said he was going.

X

Sam walked, ran and panicked alternately, for around six miles, until he saw a sight that brought back the most terrible of memories; the Impala hit by an enormous truck, its steel plates twisted and contorted and its human cargo, already battered and bruised from the demon's assault, hurt further by the tremendous impact.

Here she was again, once more in a nightmarish scenario; upside down in a deep ditch by the side of the road, practically invisible to the passing cars.

Sam scrambled down the side of the embankment, almost hyperventilating at the thought of what he might find in the wreckage of the black car; his worst fears realised as he saw a body inside, Dean's body, crumpled up and bloody like some ketchup-covered corpse from a B-rated horror-movie.

X

"Dean, Dean!" he yelled as he pushed a hand through the shattered front window to feel his brother's neck for a pulse.

"Dean..., please, man...please... don't be dead," he repeated over and over like some sacred litany, which it was, at least for Sam Winchester.

His brother Dean was his personal Holy Grail and without him, he had no reason to continue living, for he had already experienced life twice without his brother by his side, and there was no way that there was going to be a third time.

At first he could feel nothing, but as his long fingers probed his brother's neck, he almost fell backwards with joy as a feeble movement fluttered under his touch. He pulled out his cell and dialed the hospital, replacing his fingers gently on Dean's neck, monitoring his brother until the ambulance crew arrived and pushed him gently away; the cutting crew getting to work to free his brother from the wreckage of his Baby.

Sam's anxiety was so great that when asked if he could identify the man in the car, he blurted out their real names; their latest alias completely forgotten.

X

When eventually they managed to get Dean's body into the ambulance and hooked up to everything that was hookable, Sam went to take his place inside next to his brother, not taking his eyes from Dean's battered face all the way to the hospital, except to ask the doctor if his brother would be all right.

The medic, while moved by the obvious anguish on the young man's face, could only give him the standard reply, that they would have to get him to the hospital first to see exactly what his brother's medical situation was, but he assured Sam that the fact that he had held out so long since the moment of the crash was an optimistic sign.

Sam just nodded, and it was only his subconscious that registered the fact that Dean's hair was much longer than it should have been.

X

He paced the hospital corridors like a man possessed, as the wait for news about Dean became more and more unbearable.

The sympathetic nurse at the desk felt her heart go out to the distraught young man, his concern for his brother evident for all to see in his wide teary eyes.

X

Sam noticed the police agent coming towards him. At the crash site they had only asked him a few questions, the urgency of the moment in the saving of a life taking priority over anything else, but he knew that the police would have been back with further questions.

Answering questions was the last thing he wanted to do but there was no point in putting it off; better to get it over and done with quickly.

X

"Excuse me sir. You're the one who called in the accident with Mr Winchester. You're his brother. Is that right?"

Sam just nodded.

"Can you give us any more information, about what happened and why Mr Winchester found himself on that road today?"

"Dean and I are just passing through. We're on a road trip between jobs and we decided to stay a few days at the motel outside of town. Dean left to stock up on supplies and food to bring back to the room, but when he didn't show up, I got worried and decided to walk to town and see what was keeping him.

I tried his phone but it was dead and so I was certain that something must have happened to him but I've no idea how the crash came about; if he went off the road on his own or if there was another car involved. "

X

Sam had told the agent nothing but the truth, he had just left out a few details such as the fact that they were hunters, but the cop must have been convinced by his earnestness, as he nodded in turn.

Winchester's story was plausible and he believed him. He put away his notebook.

"I think that should do for now, sir. We're still investigating how the accident came about but there doesn't seem to be traces of another vehicle.

Oh, by the way, we found your brother's phone. It had been completely shattered in the crash. That probably accounts for it being dead. Any news about your brother yet."

"No, not yet, " Sam answered worriedly.

"Well, he must be one hard nut to crack if he managed to survive a crash like that. I examined the wreckage and I can tell you that not many would have walked away from it."

Somehow that made Sam smile as he answered the cop, "Yeah, you can say that again. Dean's a real fighter. Stubborn to the end."

X

"Mr Winchester?" a voice said at his shoulder.

Sam turned apprehensively.

"How's my brother, Doctor?" he asked, wanting and not wanting to know at the same time; in case the answer wasn't the one he hoped to hear

"Well, he has multiple injuries, a broken leg and arm, a serious concussion from hitting his head against the window and deep bruises all over his body, but no vital organs have been compromised. May I just say that he has been very very lucky."

Sam felt his body relax; Dean would be all right. That was all that mattered.

X

"Can I see him doctor?" he asked eagerly.

"He's still in surgery but soon he'll be brought to a room and you'll be able to sit with him if you wish."

Sam had the overwhelming urge to hug the man who had just given him such wonderful news, but he contained himself and condensed all his emotions into a simple, "Thank you so much, Doctor."

The doctor felt a warmth spread through him at the young man's words. Saving lives was his job and he was glad that he had been able to give this earnest youth some good news.

"The nurse will take you to your brother's room when he's settled in and if there is anything you need to ask me just inform the nurse and I'll come along."

X

X

Sam took his place at Dean's side, and placed his hand over that of his brother.

Dean didn't even realise he was there but it gave him comfort to feel the blood pulsing regularly through his big brother's veins, and when Dean awoke he would know that he was not alone.

His head had fallen drowsily onto the bed-cover but he quickly came to attention as he felt a light movement in the hand under his own, and heard the soft grunt as his brother came out of the medically induced sleep.

Sam lifted his head to smile at Dean, wanting him to know that he was right here beside him.

He saw his eyelashes fluttering as he tried to open his eyes.

X

"Dean, hey...how are you feeling?" Sam asked in a hushed tone. "Don't move, You've been in an accident ; you were bashed up pretty bad but you're gonna be fine. Don't worry."

X

Den turned towards him, the pain he was suffering etched into the lines of his face.

"How do you know my name?" he asked. "Are you a doctor?"

Sam was alarmed. The doctor had said nothing about any memory loss.

"Dean..., don't you recognise me.? It's me, Sam!"

X

"I've never seen you before in my life," Dean replied.

X

XXXX TBC XXXX


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven.

X

"Dean, come on, man. Don't do this! I've been worried sick about you. This is just not the time to go with the gags," Sam ventured, not wanting to believe that his big brother didn't really recognize him.

"I'm not joking," was the emphatic reply, as Dean turned his pain-filled, but lucid eyes up at Sam.

Sam tried to rationalize what he was hearing. The severe concussion he had suffered must have given Dean some form of temporary amnesia; that could be the only answer as to why Dean didn't know who he was.

X

There's no need to panic, Sam thought to himself. He would call in the doctor and let him deal with this unexpected side-effect..

"Don't worry, Dean. You were involved in a terrible accident. It must have left you with an amnesia side-effect or something. I'll go get the doctor to have a look at you, Okay!"

He went to turn away but the hand that he had been clasping up until a moment ago, snaked out and gripped his wrist.

X

"Wait;" the familiar voice of his brother ordered. "What are you talking about? I don't have amnesia. I remember exactly what happened. I was in a desperate hurry to get home and I had my foot down on the gas but when I went to brake on the curve, nothing happened; it was as if the brakes were out and I remember swerving to avoid a truck and eventually ending up with the car going off the road into a ditch. Then I woke up here."

He grimaced in pain as he released Sam's wrist. "What shape am I in anyway, apart from the broken leg and arm?" he asked, nodding at the casts on his limbs.

X

"Just who did you say you were?" he asked as he looked up at Sam.

Sam felt the panic rising again.

"Dean, you remember the accident yet you don't remember me," he stammered alarmed.

The green eyes studied his face intently. "There's certainly something familiar about you," he admitted eventually "Are you some long-lost cousin or something. What did you say your name was?" he repeated for the third time.

Sam wanted to be logical and careful with his hurt sibling, who at this point must surely have experienced some sort of partial memory-loss, but the words burst out before he could stop them.

"Dean how can you have forgotten about me; your own brother?" he almost pleaded.

X

"Hey man, I think you're the one with the amnesia. I've never had a brother. I'm an only child, but I do have a wife and son who's also called Sam, if that can make up for it.

The bed-ridden man watched fascinated as a teary-eyed expression appeared on the tall guy's face, it was eerily identical the one that his little Sammy took on when something was wrong. Now that he noticed, the eyes were exactly the same colour too, a soft moss green. The sensation of familiarity came back.

He had definitely never met this shaggy haired guy so why did he keep insisting that he was his brother. However he had always been good judge of character and he could tell the guy was sincere; he was even starting to feel sorry for him.

"Hey, listen," he said gently, feeling inexplicably protective towards the obviously upset kid.

"There must have been some kind of mix-up here. Why would you think I was your brother. Just get it all off your chest, I ain't going nowhere. I got plenty of time to listen."

X

Sam just nodded and looked away for a second, trying to compose himself.

Dean couldn't have forgotten about him if he remembered everything else, so the only conclusion was that this wasn't Dean and if it wasn't his Dean, then this man in the bed was his only clue to understanding what had happened.

He sat back down in the chair and studied the face before him. His hair was longer, he remembered noticing that in the ambulance but he had been so worried that it hadn't registered. It was brushing his collar at the back and much longer on top.

His own Dean would never have been caught with hair like that.

Suddenly a longing for his brother washed over him. The man in the bed was Dean too, just he wasn't his Dean.

He sighed and started to talk, wondering how much to tell him; he'd better just keep it on a need to know basis, at least for now.

X

"This is going to be difficult to grasp, but bear with me. My name is Sam Winchester and I have a brother called Dean who is identical to you in every way even down to your voice, well except for the girly hair," he smiled, as the man in the bed looked at him strangely.

"Never mind, it's just something that Dean always ribs me about and now I could say the same about him: that is if you were him," he added hastily, "ehm.. which you're not...!"

X

Dean continued to stare at him.

The kid was a bit weird but there was something really appealing about him; like an earnest puppy, so very similar to his own little Sammy. This whole thing was really strange.

X

"Anyway" Sam continued. "Dean and I were on a road –trip and we stopped at a motel just out of town. Dean went out to get food. I had some research to do and lost count of the time and when I realized that hours had passed and Dean wasn't back yet, nor was he answering his phone, I went out looking for him and I saw the Impala upside down in a ditch.

At first I thought Dean...you..., were dead but you still had a thready pulse and I called the ambulance and you finished up here." Sam stopped, impatient and curious to hear the other man's story.

X

The more Dean stared at the gangly kid before him the more his suspicions were becoming certainties, but he said nothing and began to tell his side of the story.

"Well, my name's Dean Winchester as you already know," his smile identical to that of Sam's missing brother.

"I had been away from home for work and was rushing to get back when the accident happened. There's not much else to tell; I live in a normal house in suburbia, I'm married and father to the cutest kid on Earth; Sammy. The little shit is the apple of my eye and he knows it too."

Sam saw the love reflected in the other Dean's eyes as he spoke of his son, and the whole situation fell into focus.

He remembered the other reality that he and Dean had once been sent to, where their lives were a tv show. There they had been the same persons , yet completely different. For some reason, something or some one had meddled in their lives again and a similar thing must have happened.

If this Dean was here, it meant that his real brother was in this man's reality along with a little kid named Sammy, only there he was Dean's son and not his brother. Jeez, what a mix-up!

X

He wondered how Dean was dealing with that! Knowing his big brother's love of children he was certain that that little Sammy was in the best of hands.

He felt the man in the bed continuing to stare at him curiously.

X

" Sammy, eh! So you're what my Sammy will be like when he grows up. A real Sasquatch," Dean said, obviously coming to the same conclusion as Sam. He might not be his Dean but he was just as quick to understand.

"You would never have been be able to tell by the skinny little thing that he is now. Six years old and no heavier than a couple of feathers!"

"Right, well, " Sam smiled, remembering when he was that age. "You can tell him that if he eats his greens he'll grow up taller that his dad."

X

"So are you the younger or the older brother?"

"Dean's the elder by four years."

"Well if I'm identical to your brother that means that you've got quite a few inches on him. I bet he's not too good with that!" Dean smirked.

"Yeah, he calls me Sasquatch too, but I think he's all right with it really. He sees me as this eternal kid anyway, even if I am taller than him.! Listen," Sam began, getting back to business.

"I know it's hard to believe but there's been some kind of swap with you and my Dean. Alternate realities and all that."

X

He expected Dean to be surprised but he seemed to take the news pretty calmly.

"You know it seems funny, but I've always kept an open mind on this kinda stuff. I've often felt as though there was something more to the world than what I was seeing around me, so to have a grown-up Sammy confirm it, seems just so appropriate somehow; but we still don't know how or why such a thing could have happened. We gotta figure that out first before we can get things back to normal, me with my Sammy and you with your Dean."

He hadn't said mentioned the supernatural, so Sam was pretty sure he knew nothing about that, yet he wasn't panicking or calling Sam crazy. Maybe this is what Dean would have been like if he hadn't been a hunter, Sam mused.

X

"What about your Mom and Dad, are they in the car maintenance business too.?" Dean asked unexpectedly.

"Whaat..! Are your parents alive where you come from?"

"Alive and kicking. They live a couple of blocks down the road from me in Lawrence."

Sam just stared in awe.

This Dean's life had surely been a hundred times better than his brother's!

X

"Hey, listen, Sam," Dean hesitated. "When I said I didn't have a brother, it wasn't quite true."

" Mom did have another child but he died the same day he was born; the doctors hadn't noticed that the umbilical cord was twisted round his neck and he suffocated. He was called Sam too. My mom never got over it. She had a nervous breakdown and they never tried for any more kids.

When I married Sam's mom and he was born, I thought that my mother would have come to love her little grand-son but she never wanted him around, for he reminded her of her own dead baby. And so poor Sammy doesn't get to hang out with his grandparents.

Then Sammy's mom died too, in a road accident when he was just three and I married again to try and give him another mother who would love him, but I know Anna really just puts up with him because of me. I sometimes think that he and I would be better off on our own. If I ever get back to him, I'm gonna rethink our lives; mine and Sammy's I mean."

X

Sam just listened as Dean poured out his story. Life wasn't all rosy for him and his Sammy either. He couldn't imagine his mother not wanting Dean's kid around but then what did he know, he had no memory of his mother except for the short trip back in time with Dean. One of the many times he had died too, he remember wryly. Boy was their life bizarre!

However if what this Dean said was true, his little Sammy needed his Dad back as soon as possible, although he knew that his own Dean would defend the little tyke against everyone and everything.

X

He felt Dean staring at him again.

Yeah, he thought to himself, I get it. You don't often get to see your kid all grown up before his time. The problem was what to do now. He had no idea why this had happened and he wasn't sure if he should give this Dean the whole ghosts, werewolves, angels and demons are real, spiel.

He was afraid that he might have to, for even if it wasn't his true brother, he was still Dean and his input could be useful.

X

XXXXX TBC XXXXX


End file.
